re: Haynesville Shale

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In the northern La parishes/southern Arkansas region, what are the most prominent formations that you are aware of?

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Cotton Valley Sand, Smackover Gray Sands. Haynesville Sand.

The term 'haynesville sand" is somewhat misleading, it is whats known as a shaley sand. The Haynesville Shale is much more of a pure clay sized particle shale, it is more consistent and has a much higher TOC.

TOC=total organic content- this is very important the higher the TOC the more gas in place.

Every gas or oil shale I have seen is dark gray to black, never really heard hue discussed.

Know one really knows yet how the shaley/sand will produce with horizintal drilling and new technology, I would like to see, as would everyone else for that matter. The 1950's logs aren't near as accurate as the new logs, so I don't know about that.

Have a merry Christmas.

They have drilled some vertical wells in the Haynesville Lime in Texas that have dwarfed the huge H-shale horizontals. Were talking about 25 million feet a day from a vertical well.

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The only people who will make money in the H-shale are the lessors that cashed in for huge bonuses and the few that bought Chesapeake and Petrohawk stock low and sold high....oh, and the service companies that get some business before this shite implodes. These shale plays were/are scams that only worked with high prices.

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There is money to be made in shale plays. Just not if you are stupid (Chesapeake) and pay $30,000 / acre.

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I guess the hottest oil/gas play in the world is just bullshite.

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It's gas - and it may be there, but when you spend in the neighborhood of $1B on leasing on acreage that you can never drill in time to hold all of the leased acreage you are going to lose money. You sound like a geo and as typical of all geo's you don't know shite about the business end.

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No one ever got 30 grand an acre

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You don't know what you are talking about. I have family members that worked the shale that bought leases for CHK that paid that much and many times were out bid by PHawk. You are right in that that was not the average but still if you are paying approx $15k/acre you aren't going to make your money back. It's a game CHK and PHK are playing with their stock and their banks.

So you think the Barnett Shale was a hoax? It turned Devon into a first-class player in the North American oil and gas market....

CHK and HK definitely over-extended themselves in the Haynesville Shale play, but to call it a farce is stupid. Sounds like somebody got burned on a lease deal, and is pissed at CHK or HK about it.

I think Shell & Encana have much better things to do than continue to plunk down $8M per well if the reserves weren't believed to be subsantial.

Gentlemen, if we can get back on point here...a little more civility and a lot less flame-throwing will benefit everyone tremendously.

Let me ask this question. I'm told that the primary formations along the Arkansas/Louisiana line are the Cotton Valley Sand, Smackover Sand, and the Haynesville Sand. Industry lore has it that the HS formation does not extend into eastern Claiborne Parish/Union Parishes. I find that an odd assertion given what is going on right now in extreme southern Arkansas with HS exploration actually taking place, but for purposes of exposition, I will leave that one be.

Tell me, are these formations economically viable? Are these formations present in eastern Claiborne/Union Parishes. I'm not an industry insider, just a 3rd-generation landowner who was around when conventional drilling and exploration was all there was.Now, with the extant technology, I believe we may be on the cusp of something bigger.

I just want to know what is on the horizon for all of us. Animal husbandry played out for my family a long time ago. Here's hoping there's something better out there.

Cwill,

If this economy ever starts to heat up again.....and, it will.....

natural gas will be a hot commodity both from a pure energy demand perspective and from a "green energy" perspective. Yes, price means everything when it comes to the economics of any play, but the reserve estimates appear to be fair to conservative. Like any new resource play, there will be a time lag for infrastructure buildout (pipeline takeaway capacity, etc.), but once in place, the HS play is expected to dwarf the Barnett play...which has been a "company builder" for several large O&G producers.

Insofar as cost goes, consider the fact that it is unlikely that the bonuses paid this year will be seen again.....likely to be 1/10th to 1/2 (at best). Add to this the likelihood of lower drilling costs and the economics can work quite nicely at $6.00 gas prices. Yes, CHK and others screwed up by "tooting their own horns" and running up lease prices on this play, but it doesn't make the opportunity any less real.

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any moment, should the Iranians close the Strait of Hormuz, for example, we could all be back to escalating prices.

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Yeah or about 100 other feasible scenarios could also play out in the middle east.

I'm enjoying $1.50 gasoline just like everyone else..but I hope everyone realizes how fragile this is and how production could be interrupted (not because of those incompetent bozos in the OPEC cartel) then the oil bull market could crank back up again..and drag NG with it.